Paladog: Okay, I admit this is a good one

I avoided playing Paladog for a long time because these types of flash games usually aren’t my cup of tea. Summoning an army, walking to the right, and watching as my units beat stuff up isn’t really my idea of excitement. I finally caved and tried the game in a moment of extreme boredom and discovered that it was actually a pretty good defense game. Go figure.

There is more than one battle mode, but the basic method of battle is the most common you will partake in. Escort the Carriage, Destiny, and Battlefield Mode are all welcome interludes to the standard gameplay. Outside of Escort the Carriage, these other modes are more for fun than anything else. We’ll be focusing on the standard battle method below as it is the real meat and potatoes of the game.

Onward to glory 

Instead of starting a battle with your units already in formation and ready to go, you summon them on the battlefield as you accumulate food (Mouse costs 10 food, Hood costs 20 food, etc.). This is one of the facets of the game that gives it a strategic element, as you have to weigh whether or not it’s worth waiting to get a more pricey unit or whether you should just get a few cheaper ones. If you make the wrong decision when you’re being heavily pressured, you just might lose.

Perfect balance? Not so much

You will find yourself relying more on some units than others, and there is some imbalance here. At the start of the game you can summon waves of Mouse and soon after you have access to Hood as well. Even with max upgrades, these two units are overshadowed by more expensive units later in the game. It makes sense, it’s just disappointing if you happen to put a lot of money into upgrading them. Additionally, unit prices are steep — do not expect to unlock even half of them by the middle of the game. You need to grind gold to unlock them all.

Accessorize yourself

Equipment is another thing that gives Paladog some strategic “oomph”. You can equip three wands and two rings. Each wand has a spell you can use in battle for mana, while rings have passive benefits such as increased health regeneration, gold finding, or base food. Some gear can be purchased from the vendor, but the good stuff needs to be sought out on the battlefield. Also worth noting is that you can sell equipment to put gold toward your unit unlocks and upgrades. This can be a huge help when you really need to upgrade but can’t seem to keep a regular cash flow.

I went into Paladog thinking it would be bland and uninspired. Instead what I got was a challenging and engrossing casual strategy game. Combat is just stressful enough and the equipment and upgrade system gives you a sense of progression outside of the levels themselves. It’s no surprise that it’s one of the top flash games today. It will be interesting where the developer, Fazecat, will do next.